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3 R E L G N A P S W m FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER.

No. 296,289. Patented'Apr. .1, 1884.

A421 vii/Ionic (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. W. SPANGLER.

' FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTBR.

No. 296,239. Patented Apr. 1, 1884.

WITNESSES INVENTOB. V

' M Attarney;

PATENT JACOB W. SPANGLER, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

, FERTILIZER-DISTRIBUTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,239, dated April 1, 1884.

Application filed May 6, 1852. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J noon XV. SPANGLER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at York,

specification.

This invention is in the nature of improvements in machinery for distributing or sowing fertilizing material; and the object of the invention is to simplify the construction and in crease the efiiciency of such machinery.

To these ends my improvements consist, broadly stated, in a rotating toothed feedwheel combined with a stationary scraper and clearer therefor, and with a bed-plate having a dischargethroat the size of the opening in which is regulated by a sliding gate, all. substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figurel is a top plan view of myfeedcr for corn-planters. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan view with the throat-cap'or cut-off removed and the gate projected into the discharge-opening. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section on the iine x w of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of part of ahopper, showing the gate-operating mechanism.

The bed-plate a and the arrangement of the feed-wheel 1) upon its under side, the siftingstrough c, with the spider carrying the hub d, in which the gudgeon e of the feed-wheel takes a bearing, and the throat-flange f, formed with the spider and tro'ugh, may be and preferably are substantially similar to those shown in Letters Patent of the United States of America, No. 261,569, granted to me July 25, 1882. The feed-wheel bhas the flat or discous portion 9 underlying the edge of the opening in the bed-plate, and its under side is provided with the usual cogs for meshing with a driving-pinion. An annular flange or rim, h,

'two disks.

rises from the face of disk 9, and upon this flange is bolted an obliquely or tangentially toothed disk, 73, so that the disks 5/ and i and the flange h become practically one, and, in fact, the whole may be made as one casting, although I have shown the simpler and more economical structure. This wheel is held in place to the bed-plate by the application of the spider; but I wish it to be observed that in this case, as in the case referred to herein, the weight of the wheel is taken by the hub of the spider, so that it may revolve with the minimum of friction. v

j is a casting bolted to the bedplate at one side of the discharge-throat k, and having a horn or projection, Z, brought to an edge, and of such shape and size as to closely hug the vertical rim h of the feed-wheel between the The rear face of this horn is inclined toward the discharge-throat, and the office of the device is that of a scraper to remove the fertilizer from the feed-wheel and j throw it into the discharge-throat.

m is a throat-cap or cut-off engaging at one end with the scraper j, and bolted at its other end to the bed-plate. This throat-cap and that part of the casting j with which it engages rise ovcr the discharge-orifice to a height above the toothed disk, and the cap m rests upon lips or and 0 on the bed-plate, or may be made with such lips and also the lip 11. This cap has a horn or projection, r, overlying the toothed .disk for a short distance within the rim of the disk, and its edge is keen enough to cut or break up obstructions carried around to it by the teeth. This horn thus acts as a clearer for the feed-wheel, and limits the load carried to the scraper, substantially as in the inventions heretofore made by me. A slotted guideway, s, is provided in the bed-plate at the point covered by the cap m, and in this gnideway is arranged to slide into the discharge-opening a gate, i. This gate, when wholly within thecapthat is to say, fully open-has its active edge concentric with the feed-wheel; but when projected more or less therefrom it correspondingly contracts the discharge-opening, and so governs or regulates the quantity of material fed. This gate is suitably operated by connections with its tailpiece u, and it may be steadied or guided in its movement by a lug, 1), depending from the cap m.

The few changes in gearing necessary to adapt the feeder herein shown for use in an attachment for grain-drills are so obvious as to need no illustration.

It will be noticed that the toothed disk acts also as a stirrer and pulverizer in a measure. This disk, with its teeth acting in conjunction with the lower disk, serves as a force-feed, and is very efficacious and highly satisfactory in operation.

In Fig. 5 I have shown an arrangement of two of my feeders in a hopper, the bed-plates a of the feeders forming the bottom of the hopper, and being secured in the hopper by suitable longitudinal and cross strips, a b,respectively, or otherwise, as desired. 0 is a bar or rod suitably supported beneath the hopper, and having blocks d 6 attached thereto. These blocks are provided with sockets to removably receive the tail-pieces a of the sliding gates, as indicated in dotted lines. The block (1 has a tooth, f, with which engages a lever, g, which lever is fulcrumed to one of the crosspieces, b, and extends out beyond the hopper into a handle, by which it may be operated. Any suitable device-as a slotted bar, h, and set-screw z"may be used to lock the lever, and, consequentlythe gates,inany given adjustment. Only one of these blocks need have the tooth f, and by its connection with the lever and the connection of all the gates with the bar all such gates may be simultaneously and similarly adjusted, or set to secure uniformity of feed throughout the series of feeders.

By the loose connection of the gates with their blocks, and that of the block d with the lever, each and all of the feeders may be removed without disturbing the other parts.

The teeth of the disk i serve to crush the lumps of fertilizer, keep the dischargethroat clear, and, in combination with the wall h and disk 9, constitute a perfect carrier and an absolute force-feed.

As before stated, the quantity of fertilizer sown is regulated by opening the gate more or less but I have found that the slower the motion of the feed-wheel and the larger the discharge-opening the less is the agitation, the strain upon the gearing is reduced, the draft is diminished, and the fertilizer distributed more regularly; and, taking advantage of this discovery, I provide my machines with several change-wheels, whereby the speed of the feed-wheel can be altered, such provision of itself being old; but where the fertilizer being sown is of such nature as to be discharged with difficulty and irregularity, I put on a change-wheel that will give a slow speed and fully open the gate, and as the result all difficulty in properly sowing the fertilizer is removed. This mode of operation will be found especially advantageous when the fertilizer is gummy or sticky or damp, and when, as is often the case, it contains large pieces of bone and hard lumps and nails. The wide-open gate permits the free passage of all obstructions, which might otherwise cause breakage of the machinery,

Movable regulating-gates for fertilizer-distributers are old, and, as before stated, so also are change-wheels; but I am not aware of any prior combination of these devicesto operate in the manner described.

It is true that change-wheels and a sliding gate have been heretofore used in connection with a double hopper and a double feed-wheel therein in grass-seed sowers; but the obj ect of such construction is wholly different from mine, in that it refers to material of wholly different working characteristics, and is intended to equalize the quantity sown with the speed of the team, the discharge-openings being large or small and the rotation of the feedwheels fast or slow in a purely arbitrary manner, and in contradistinction to an unvarying maximum discharging-opening in connection with a minimum speed, as in my invention.

What I claim is 1. In a fertilizer-distributer, a forcefeed wheel having a discous base, and a superposed toothed disk in a parallel plane with an intervening wall, whereby material to be distributed may be fed.

2. In a fertilizer-distributer, a forcefeed wheel having a discous base, a superposed toothed disk in a parallel plane, and an intervening wall, whereby material to be distributed may be fed, combined with a bed-plate having a discharge-throat, anda stationary scraper to throw the load of the wheel into the discharge-throat.

3. In a fertilizer-distributer, a forcefeed wheel having a discous base, and a superposed toothed disk in a parallel plane with an intervening wall, whereby material to be dis tributed may be fed, combined with a dischargethroat, a cap therefor, and a stationary scraper projecting between the two disks and hugging the intervening wall to discharge the load of the wheel.

4. In a fertilizer-distributer, a forcefeed wheel having a discous base, and a superposed toothed disk in a parallel plane with an intervening wall, whereby material to be distributed may be fed, combined with a discharge-throat, a stationary scraper, a clearer, and asliding gate under said clearer to regulate the quantity of the discharge.

5. A feed-wheel composed of a discous base suitably supported, combined with a toothed disk overlying but elevated above the same, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, substantially as shown and described, of a rotating toothed feedwheel, a stationary scraper, l, a stationary clearer, r, a bed-plate having a discharge throat or opening, and a sliding gate to regulate the size of the opening and the quantity of material fed.-

7. The combination,with the bed-plate hav- IIO ing a dischargeorifioe and a cap thereover, of the sliding gate t, arranged in guides in the bed-plate, to regulate the size of opening in said orifice to control the quantity fed, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the feeders, of their sliding gates, a lug, a, depending from each, a bar having blocks d e, for loose connection therewith to operate them, and alever to move said bar,substantiallyas shown and described.

9. As an improvement in the art of sowing or distributing fertilizing material, the combination, as herein described, of a horizontal rotary feed-wheel arranged within a hopper and its content of fertilizer, and working over a covered dischargethroat, and provided with a clearer, a sliding or adjustable gate to regulate JACOB W. SPANGLEB.

lVitnessesi GEORGE M. SHETT-ER, R. HOFFHEIN. 

